Dear IRR News subscriber,

This week IRR News examines via two new publications and one developing campaign, the current state of narratives relating to race issues emerging from Left, Right and Centre. Liz Fekete reviewing the recent anthology, Free Movement and Beyond: Agenda Setting for Brexit Britain, written by leftists in the Remain camp suggests that migrant rights rather than an abstract concept of ‘freedom of movement’ (divested of the distortions of neoliberalism) should be the starting point for a discussion. Movement, she point out, is not ‘free’ for the majority of the displaced of the world, nor is  it ‘colour-blind’ for those within the EU. 

But as we try to set a progressive agenda on social justice and anti-racism, we are also having to take  account  of the increasing influence of the alt-right in the UK and the danger of fake news emanating from the likes of Breitbart News now also based in London. Samiha Begum looks at HOPE not Hate’s report: Breitbart – A rightwing plot to shape Europe’s future.

And, unfortunately, campaigns which we thought had been won in terms of recognising colonial wrongs are having to be refought – in education. As Plymouth plans to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrim Fathers’ voyage to New England, educationalist Danny Reilly explains how a group of ‘Mayflower Mavericks’ is campaigning to have the impact of colonialism, slavery and the loss of indigenous lives and cultures added to the many commemorative educational projects in Plymouth. 

Finally, our regular calendar of racism and resistance, a fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, is available here.

 

IRR News Team